It really ought to be easier to use. I'm fine with parallel parking but I know lots of people who aren't. It shouldn't be a big ordeal to engage this feature. Or, you could learn to park
Yep, we're still long ways from automated driving (even semi) if its so difficult to use the self parking feature. Ideally, the system should start "looking" for a spot once a certain set of circumstances are met (speed decreased, cars parked along side of it) and then it should prompt a "do you want to self park" and it should be a single button press.
I have this feature on my MINI Cooper. It's brilliant, but also really scary! One has to be VERY trusting to have faith that you and the car in front of you won't collide. However, it has so far done a perfect job of it.
The park assist feature on my Fusion is super simple. It is initiated by button near the console shifter. A feature like this needs to be easily activated so you are not distracted from driving.
The i3 system is very simple. One button on the console turns it on. Then you just follow the on-screen prompts. There's nothing to remember if you can read. The car steers, accelerates, brakes and even shifts gears thanks to the much-maligned electronic gear selector. The only hitch is having to click through the legalese screen that lawyers imposed on the US models (the rest of the world doesn't have to put up with such silliness). Here's a video I made:
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